Instructions

Marinading the Chicken

Thinly slice the chicken so it cooks quickly (1/4 inch or less) and place it in a bowl. If you are using ground chicken or pork then place that in a bowl.

Add the soy sauce and water to the meat and mix well.

Keep in the fridge to marinade until the congee is done cooking.

Cooking the Congee

Add the water and rice to a pot and set it to high heat. Wait for the water to come to a boil.

Once the water has come to a boil, turn down the heat to medium low heat and let it simmer with no lid on. Using a lid will cause the starchy congee to over flow out the pot.

If you are using Japanese calrose rice, it takes about 40-45 minutes to cook. This will produce a thicker and creamier congee so you will have to stir it every 10-15 minutes so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

If you are using basmati rice, it will take between 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours to cook. This is a less starchy rice, so you only need to stir it every 30 minutes.

If you are using a mix of rices, it will take about 1 hour to cook and will require stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Once the congee is done, turn off the heat and put a lid on it and let it ‘steam’ for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, mix the congee with a spoon and adjust the congee to the texture you like. If you like it thinner, add water or chicken stock to it 2 tablespoons at a time until you get the right consistency. If you like it thick and creamy, leave it as is.

Turn the heat back to mdium heat and keep stirring until the congee is hot and starts to bubble.

Once the congee starts to bubble, add in the chicken slices or ground meat and stir well so that the hot congee coats the meat.

Cook the meat for about 6-7 minutes until you see no more pink

Serve with plain (as-is) or with toppings! Enjoy!

Notes

If you are using Japanese Calrose Rice for this recipe, the congee will turn out very creamy and thick. If you like your congee slightly runnier, add water or chicken stock 2 tablespoons at a time until it is the right consistency for you at the end before you cook the chicken.

Congee can be stored in the fridge and reheated, however, I find congee that has been refrigerated will become less thick and creamy compared to when you have it freshly made.

Short Cut

If you don’t have the time to watch over the pot and boil it down to its creaminess, boil it until the rice is soft and mix in a potato starch slurry (1 tablespoon potato starch, 1 1/2 tablespoon cold water) and stir it evenly into the congee while it is boiling. This will thicken it up into a creamy consistency. I highly suggest that you don’t substitute the potato starch with corn starch since corn starch will not stay creamy when it is stirred a lot or refrigerated.